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Verse:  bhavan bhismas ca karnas ca kripas ca samitim-jayah ashvatthama vikarnas ca saumadattis tathaiva ca Translation:  There are personalities like you, Bhishma, Karna, Kripa, Asvatthama, Vikarna and the son of Somadatta called Bhurisrava, who are always victorious in battle

Everything here is recycled. The earth is 200 million years old - the Alps, the water, the air. Billions of people have breathed the same air. All the particles in your body are old, you are recycled. Your thoughts and emotions are recycled, mind is recycled. You are a recycled person. Everything here is recycled. Consciousness is recycled - its the same old consciousness. Remind yourself that everything here is recycled material - so relax! Everything goes to where it came from. Recycling brings back purity and hygiene. Knowledge recycles the mind. Tarah says : Recycling makes everything new and therefore a mind that is recycled by knowledge finds everything fresh. Knowledge keeps everything fresh. That is why you can keep recycling the same creation. A mind in Knowledge finds everything fresh. If you dont put Knowledge to the mind, the mind gets rotten. Knowledge brings the mind back to purity. Recycling brings purity and hygiene. Hygiene supports health, and too much hygiene destroy...

Patanjali Yoga Sutras - Knowledge Sheet 9 (Continues from previous post:  Dealing with modulations of the mind .) Is practice alone enough? Patanjali says “No”. There are two oxen, which pull a cart. The two wheels of this cart are abhyasa  (practice) on one side and  vairagya  (dispassion) on the other. What is vairagya? Drishtanu shravikavishaya vitrush’asya vashikara sanjna vairagyam Dispassion is that state of supremacy of consciousness in the one free from the thirst of the perceptible and celestial enjoyment. - Patanjali Yoga Sutra #15 The mind gallops towards the world of passion. You just keep quiet, close your eyes or open your eyes or do anything. Where does your mind go? It travels towards the sense of sight. You want to see something somewhere. Or the mind runs towards the sense of smell, taste, sound and touch. Do you see that? Or it gallops towards something it has heard. It has never seen but it has read some thoughts. This craving for any of these ex...

We are tiny and sweet; delightful like sesame seeds with jaggery. So stay small and sweet and you will truly become big. And if you think you are very big and important in any field or aspect then the downfall will begin  ~ Sri Sri

Verse:  asmakam tu visista ye tan nibodha dvijottama nayaka mama sainyasya samjnartham tan bravimi te Translation:  But for your information, O best of the brahmanas, let me tell you about the captains who are especially qualified to lead my military force.

Chapter 1 -- Verse 6 Verse:  yudhamanyus ca vikranta uttamaujas ca viryavan saubhadro draupadeyas ca sarva eva maha-rathah Translation:  There are the mighty Yudhamanyu, the very powerful Uttamauja, the son of Subhadra and the sons of Draupadi. All these warriors are great chariot fighters

There are three forces: Brahma shakti, Vishnu shakti, and Shiva shakti. You may have one of these predominant. Brahma shakti is the force to create something new. Vishnu shakti is maintenance and Shiva shakti is bringing in transformation, filling in life, or destroying. Some of you have Brahma shakti. You may create well, but you may not be able to maintain. For example, you may make friends very fast, but it does not last long. There are others who cannot create but are good at maintaining. For example, people have long lasting friendships but cannot make any new friends. In such cases, Vishnu shakti is dominant. And then there are others who have more of Shiva shakti. They bring in new life or transformation or they can destroy the whole set up. In Guru shakti, all three shaktis have blossomed fully. So each of you first identify which shakti you have more of and aspire for Guru shakti. Guru makes a group but a group cannot make a Guru.

Meditation is like water to the thirsty. Meditation is the way for inner peace, for upliftment of the spirit  ~ Sri Sri

Q:  Guruji, please tell us what is Chitta? Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:   Chitta  is like  Aakaasha  (sky), that which is present everywhere inside us. Consciousness is also known as Chitta  –  Chaitanya Shakti  (conscious energy).  Chiti, Chaitanya, Chitta –  just like water, ice and vapor – are all different forms of the same  Chitta . When it solidifies, it is called  Chitta , when it becomes fluid it is called  Chiti. Q:  Why do we ring the bell in a temple? Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:  Because there are so many thoughts wandering in your mind, with the sound of the bells you come into the present. Your thoughts come to a halt. The drummers beat large drums, play the  Naadaswaram ,  shehnai , bells, and conch. All these sounds are made so that your mind becomes quieter. Your mind is like a kid. When a kid is crying, you cry louder than the kid and the kid becomes quiet. Have you noticed that? In the same way, wh...

Happiness should also be controlled. When we are happy, we should channelize our happiness. Sukh mein seva dukh mein tyaag – memorize this formula. When you are happy, do some sevice, and when you are sad or miserable then surrender your sorrow. If you do not have the attitude of surrender, sorrow will never leave you. If one does not surrender even in sorrow, then there is no way out for that person. Surrender and service, both should go together in life. The happiness that we are experiencing must be given a direction. See how joyful we are – we have been meditating since morning and we all feel so good. We must think, what do we have to do so that everyone may experience this joy? Do seva, we have to build a corruption-free, violence-free, and oppression-free society. For that we have to fight against ignorance. There are a variety of superstitions in our country and we have to eliminate those. There is illiteracy which we have to remove. We have to fight against ignorance. To a...

There are two types of knowledge. The first one is pure knowledge and the second one is applied knowledge. Applied knowledge may benefit you directly and immediately but pure knowledge benefits you indirectly in the long run. If there are some things that you have studied or understood that you are unable to put into practice, do not get disheartened. Sometime in the future, if you do not discard the knowledge you have as impractical, it will be of use to you. Often people discard the pure knowledge for its lack of immediate application. In fact these two types of knowledge compliment each other. Applied knowledge without pure knowledge remains weak. And pure knowledge without application will remain unfulfilled. Do not discard or label the knowledge as impractical. Do not label yourself as weak or unworthy because you are unable to apply the knowledge in your day-to-day life. Sometimes when you are alone in nature, silent, taking a walk, looking at the sand on the beach, a bird in the...

Everything in nature, from grass to the sun is beneficial to life. We express gratitude to whatever is beneficial to life. Give thanks to the sun and to the earth. That is why we say, 'Sarva deva namsakaram Keshavam prati- gacchati' No matter whom you thank, all gratitude reaches the one and only God  ~ Sri Sri

Longing is God. It is good to be in longing. And this longing is such that it has no solution. It never fades. This thirst is such that it can never be quenched ~ Sri Sri

A person who argues should not be given knowledge. An argumentative mind is not receptive to knowledge. When someone is in an argumentative mood, then giving knowledge or advice is in vain. In an argumentative mood you feel you know it all. Then you are not ready for knowledge. That is why wise people do not give advice when they are in an argumentative environment. Argument has a purpose. It can bring out the truth if there is no emotion or sense of "I" attached to it. Argument can also have a disadvantage. It can make untruth appear to be truth. A wise man will not take arguments seriously; he will just have fun with them. Wisdom is beyond all arguments. ***** Both a worldly person and a spiritual person will tell you not to do wrong, though the reasons they give are totally different. A worldly person will tell you not to do wrong because it hurts or causes him pain. A spiritual person will tell you not to do wrong because it would only harm you more. ...

Are you looking for proof? Debating within yourself? Are you hanging on to 'wrong knowledge' of how things are? You do not know how things are because the world is fluid. There is nothing solid here. Nobody is solid. Nobody’s mind is solid. No thoughts are solid. The whole world is fluid. Anything can change any time, in any way. The whole world is filled with all sorts of possibilities. But your mind tries to fix everything — thought, people, ideas and places — into definite items or quantities. This is how it is. Your mind has set ideas of yourself, using proof, wrong knowledge or vikalpa , fantasies or fears or dwelling in the past. The four modulations of the mind plus sleep, that is another modulation. Abhyasavairagyabhyam tannirodhaha They can be restrained by practice or dispassion. - Patanjali Yoga Sutra #12 How do you get over that? One can overpower this vrutti (modulation)   through abhyasa (practice) and vairagya (detachment or self-centeredness). Tatra ...

When you happen to be on the top, be totally humble. The more you go up, the more humble you become. Humility is the sign of success. And when there is humility then there are no obstacles. Everything keeps on happening naturally ~ Sri Sri

A wise person makes no effort to conceal a secret. But he does not make an effort to reveal a secret either. For example, you do not talk about menstruation, death, etc. to a five-year-old, but as they grow older these things are not hidden from them any more. They become known as a matter of course. An unenlightened one tries to protect a secret; and he also reveals the secret at the wrong time, to the wrong person, in the wrong place and makes a big fuss about secrets. Trying to protect a secret causes anxiety and discomfort. An ignorant one is not comfortable with a secret, whether revealed or unrevealed, but the wise one is comfortable with a secret whether revealed or unrevealed!

Chapter 1 -- Verse 4 Verse: atra sura mahesv-asa bhimarjuna-sama yudhi yuyudhano viratas ca drupadas ca maha-rathah Translation: Here in this army are many heroic bowmen equal in fighting to Bhima and Arjuna: great fighters like Yuyudhana, Virata and Drupada.

You know how to ride a bicycle? In the same way drive the vehicle of life! Maintain a balance in life: Do what you like to do, but also do what others like to do ~ Sri Sri

Knowledge has an end. Knowledge completes. So also does discipleship. For the disciple is aimed at acquiring Knowledge. Once you cross the water, however nice the boat is, you get off the boat. After twelve years, the disciple completes his studies. The master does a ceremony called Samavartha, where he tells the disciple that he is ending the discipleship and asking him to behave at par with him, and let the Brahman dynamically manifest. Sakha is a companion in life and death; it never ends. In the path of love there is neither beginning nor end. Sakha only wants the beloved. He doesn't care about the Knowledge or liberation. Love is incomplete because of longing. And so it is infinite, for infinity can never be complete. Arjuna was a sakha to Krishna and although Krishna was the perfect Master he was a sakha too. What are you, a shishya (disciple) or a sakha (companion)?

Chapter 1 -- Verse 5 Verse: dhrishtaketus cekitanah kasirajas ca viryavan purujit kuntibhojas ca saibyas ca nara-pungavah Translation: There are also great, heroic, powerful fighters like Dhrishtaketu, Cekitana, Kasiraja, Purujit, Kuntibhoja and Saibya.

Extract from The Hindu http://www.thehindu.com/life- and-style/religion/ article105812.ece Joseph, who has Master's degrees in Sanskrit, Tamil and English, has been lecturing on Visishtadvaita for many years. His son is also a practising Vaishnavite. D.A. Joseph's calendar is full, a lecture on Visishtadvaita lined up for each day of the week. Joseph's spiritual quest began when he was just nine. He had many questions, to which he found no satisfactory answers. The answers came some years later, through Veeraraghava Iyengar, a Sanskrit and Tamil scholar, who became his Tamil teacher, when Joseph was in class ten, in St. Mary's school in Madurai. The curious Joseph's first questions to his teacher, were not about his lessons, but about why Veeraraghava Iyengar wore his dhoti differently, why he had a tuft, and why he sported the Vaishnavite mark on his forehead. The teacher explained the significance of these to the inquisitive student. One thing led to another, and ...

Chapter 1 -- Verse 1 Verse:  dhrtarastra uvaca dharma-ksetre kuru-ksetre samaveta yuyutsavah mamakah pandavas caiva kim akurvata sanjaya Translation:  Dhrtarastra said: O Sanjaya, after assembling in the place of pilgrimage at Kuruksetra, what did my sons and the sons of Pandu do, being desirous to fight?

Ancient Idol of Lord Vishnu found during excavation in an old village in Russia’s Volga Region Posted January, 2012 MOSCOW: An ancient Vishnu idol has been found during excavation in an old village in Russia’s Volga region, raising questions about the prevalent view on the origin of ancient Russia. The idol found in Staraya (old) Maina village dates back to VII-X century AD. Staraya Maina village in Ulyanovsk region was a highly populated city 1700 years ago, much older than Kiev, so far believed to be the mother of all Russian cities. “We may consider it incredible, but we have ground to assert that Middle-Volga region was the original land of Ancient Rus. This is a hypothesis, but a hypothesis, which requires thorough research,” Reader of Ulyanovsk State University’s archaeology department Dr Alexander Kozhevin told state-run television Vesti . Dr Kozhevin, who has been conducting excavation in Staraya Maina for last seven years, said that every single square metre of ...

Worrying is like a Rocking chair. It gives you something to do, but doesn't get you anywhere.

If there is water available but no one is thirsty, who would drink water? Isn’t it? Similarly, the questions ‘Who am I?’ ‘What do I want?’ should first dawn in our minds. What does everyone want? Everyone wants to be peaceful, happy and contented. Who doesn’t want to be happy? Now, what is the way to be happy? If the mind keeps wavering between the past and the future, how can it be peaceful? We need to put effort to bring our mind to the present moment. This is called Yoga. Maharishi Patanjali has said ‘Yoga Chitta Vrutti Nirodha’ (Yoga is the act of restraining or freeing the mind from the clutches of its modulations). There are five types of modulations of the mind, which can be painful or not painful. The first modulation is  Pramaana  - always thinking if this is right or wrong, wanting proof for everything. There are 3 kinds of proof the mind looks for-  Pratyaksha  (experiential proof), Anumaana  (inferential proof) and Agama (scriptural proof). The sec...